NRSC Aide Caught Meddling in GOP Primary

The deputy finance director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) helped raise money for a candidate in a contested Alabama GOP congressional primary in what some Republicans are calling a major breach of protocol.

In November and December, Alabama 6th congressional district candidate Will Brooke paid NRSC staffer Brittney Ingalls Godoy thousands of dollars to fundraise for him.

“I’ve been staff or a consultant for every Republican Hill committee and never in all my years have I seen special dispensation made for a titled aide to engage in primaries,” said a GOP operative watching the race.

Godoy is a close personal friend of Brooke, and her husband, Billy Godoy, is a senior official with the campaign. Brooke attended the Godoy’s wedding, an intimate gathering of only a few close friends, for example.

An NRSC official, who noted that there would be a “natural tendency” for Godoy to have a personal interest in the race because of the “long-standing family connection,” said Godoy consulted for Brooke’s campaign on her own personal time and that her work for him did not mean the NRSC was intervening in the race.

“The actions that employees take in their spare time during non-work hours is their own business. The NRSC has no interest in campaigns for the House of Representatives nor does it have a preference of candidates,” the official said.

Still, Godoy’s involvement, particularly with a candidate who has previously donated more than $10,000 to Democratic lawmakers, is rankling some Republicans.

“Impartiality in nomination contests, even those outside of a committee’s narrow campaign focus, is paramount. Anything else is wrong and fundamentally unfair,” the operative said.

Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show that BIG Capital Resources, LLC, a company registered to Brittney Ingalls Godoy, received nearly $3,000 for “fundraising consulting” for “Will Brooke for Congress Inc” in 2013. Brooke is running in a primary in the state’s sixth congressional district to replace retiring Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL).

Godoy has served as finance director in the past for freshman Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL), who won a special election in 2013.

Roll Call has called the primary the “most moneyed House primary in the South” after four candidates had impressive fourth-quarter hauls. State Rep. Paul DeMarco raised $367,000; business leader Brooke $320,000; surgeon Chad Mathis $350,000; and social conservative Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL) $250,000.

The AL-06 primary, which is in one of the most Republican-friendly districts in the nation, takes place June 3. A runoff could take place on July 15 if no candidate gets more than a majority of the vote.